‘I do not have the means to speak:’ educating youth for citizenship in post-conflict Liberia

Abstract

Although policymakers stress the importance of education in promoting peace, little research examines the ways that schools prepare students affected by conflict to participate in the restoration of peace in their political community. Post-conflict societies experience severe challenges in strengthening political processes and social cohesion. This paper discusses citizenship education at a school run by a non-governmental organization near Monrovia, Liberia, examining the implemented curriculum in an 8th grade civics classroom. The paper details the ways that young people expressed civic critiques within the classroom, and provides a counterstory to narratives of harsh and violent educational environments in the region. This classroom was a space where students and their teacher engaged in talk about contentious issues: students discussed corruption and injustice, and highlighted the relationship between economic and political power. I argue that if the goal of education is to produce engaged, effective citizens, teachers should have pedagogic support to confront the differences between the implemented curriculum and students’ lived experiences. Peace education in such contexts must include equipping students to seek justice. Furthermore, because possibilities for civic education are embedded in students’ local and national contexts, current global civic education initiatives must be adaptive to local realities.

Keywords:

• NGO’s
• Liberia
• civic education
• citizenship
• post-conflict

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the participants in the study for their time and thoughts. Much appreciation is due to Dr Carole Hahn, Dr Joan DeJaeghere, and Dr Francine Menashy, who provided valuable feedback during the various iterations of this manuscript.

Notes

1. All names used are pseudonyms.

2. The questions in interview 2 are adapted from DeJaeghere (2008).